Officials say raccoons could attack as a result of physical contact and advised Torontonians to avoid them.
“Physical contact includes feeding or petting raccoons and other wild animals, and other interactions which may be otherwise avoidable,” reads a release published by city officials on Tuesday.
“Residents who may have had physical contact with a raccoon or another wild animal should see a healthcare provider immediately to be assessed.”
Dr. Suzanne Macdonald, a psychology professor at York University who specializes in animal behaviour, said that raccoons were unlikely to change their behaviour over the past years. The fact that people encounter those animals more often is probably because they spend more time outdoors since they cannot go anywhere else due to the lockdown.
The City of Toronto is asking people to stay away from raccoons after it saw an increase in reports of people being attacked by these animals. Toronto Public Health (TPH) has seen a 62 per cent increase in raccoon bites and scratches since last January, compared to a two-year average between 2018 and 2019. There were also 3,712 service requests to help ill or injured raccoons in 2020, while only 4,172 requests were reported in 2019. Officials.